I will add that I had the misfortune of seeing my parents' doctor when I was growing up and he and I were as mismatched as lending someone who wants to tow a 40 foot caravan a Nissan Micra. For example, when he used a tongue depressor when I was ten, and I had my gag reflex, he said, "Sticks, Sticks, don't you like sticks?" (I wanted to say, "They're tongue depressors, not sticks." And this doctor did an abdominal exam that could only be compared to the way a man I knew tried to tow a caravan up a mountain range in fifth gear and wondered why it lost power. My mother later said, "But you probably went all stiff when he touched you." What she should have said, beforehand, to the doctor, was, "He doesn't like people touching him, so he might stiffen up." (My cousin is the same and he doesn't like people touching him and he stiffens up). Also, I didn't like how this doctor said, "And I'll give you some of my magic capsules." My gastroenterologist, with my IBS, wouldn't have said to me, "And I'll give you some of my magic tablets," she would say, "I can give you an anti-diarrheal medication."

This doctor (to provide context, this doctor was in a group practice) also didn't understand the difference between being your patient and being a patient at the practice where he worked. I have the belief that unless you are not fussy about who you see, or your regular doctor is not available, unless it's an emergency, a different doctor should only do the minimum. (Okay, if you go to a different doctor with a cut hand that needs stitching, that doctor should stitch and dress the wound, check your tetanus status (give tetanus toxoid) and a course of antibiotics, and then say, "Come back to have the stitches removed," and let you decide whether you see them or your usual doctor. If, say, you have a strep throat and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and you see a different doctor, all the different doctor should do is check the computer and say, "Okay, I can give you some antibiotics that won't clash with your thyroxine." That doctor would be acting outside their station to want to test your thyroxine levels.

Also, this doctor had no tact. He might have thought he was doing me a favour, but he wasn't. I had acne as a teenager, and he recommended some soap that was useless. What he should have done was waited for me to say something, and then ask, "Do the kids at school give you a hard time about it?" "Yes." "And does it dent your confidence?" "Yes." "Would you like me to give you something that could help you?" NOT, "Now, might I suggest to you...?"